I was pretty excited about my snap peas this year. I planted them in the Wall-O-Waters in March during our unusually warm spring, and was very pleased with how well they grew.

It’s too bad I only got to eat about five of them before they suddenly disappeared. It wasn’t deer, or even rabbits. It was Luna, the vegetable munching Labrador, who chomped them down.

I couldn’t believe it. We ran electric fence around the garden this winter to break Luna of going potty in there. It’s right outside the kitchen door, so I think it’s an easy place for her to go during the winter. But it’s gross, so the fence went up, and it worked very well.

I should say, it worked until we unplugged it, because we put in the little pond. With the boys going back and forth so much, I didn’t want them being shocked if someone forgot to turn it off. Plus it looked like Luna learned her lesson not to go in there. Then the peas ripened. A dog can only resist so much.

Aftermath

Like I said, I couldn’t figure out what happened at first. One day the peas looked beautiful. I ate a few while passing by the garden, gauging how close they were to being truly ripe, and looking forward to a good harvest. Then they were gone.

I even dug through the towers of peas, hoping to find a bunch in the middle, but was disappointed.

I didn’t think the boys ate them—and frankly, I would have been thrilled if they had. Then I saw her. Luna pulled off a branch of the peas, put it on the ground and stepped on it, as she plucked the pea from the plant. So I lost my entire pea crop to our dog. Go figure.

I guess I’ll forgive her, though. She is a great buddy to the boys, and a good running companion, even if she stops unexpectedly in the trail, adding a bit more excitement to the run. It’s good practice to have to stop and leap, isn’t it? It’ll keep me on my toes if I happen to run (literally) across a rattlesnake. So if Luna feels she needs to add peas to her diet, I can’t be too upset with her. But it also reminds me that I’ll need to fence off the tomatoes and do something to keep her from raiding the raspberries. Truly, I’ve never met a dog who likes fruits and vegetables as much as she does.

Next Time

Next year, if the weather cooperates like it did this year, I’ll plant the peas early again using the Wall-O-Waters. But instead of leaving them open to a hungry Lab, I’ll put a chicken wire fence around them before the peas come, so we can actually enjoy some of them for dinner.

Just to be nice, I’ll be sure to add a few groups of peas along the perimeter of one of the gardens specifically for Luna, so she can have her favorite spring snack.